Review Blog

Jul 10 2013

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Atria Books, 2013. ISBN 9781476743554.
(Age: 17+) Highly recommended. I'm sold. I haven't ventured yet into
the New Adult genre but it's one I've been meaning to try out,
especially due to its recent popularity. Featuring more serious
issues and romances that young adult novels rarely venture into,
it's an interesting change.Hopeless is an endearing, shocking, and strangely
heart-warming novel. It slowly envelops us into the story of a girl
named Sky who feels nothing for guys even when she's making out with
them. Her mother has shielded her from technology and public schools
ever since she was adopted at 6, and it's her first time going into
public school with a reputation of sleeping around.
Then she meets Dean Holder, a guy who has a temper and a reputation
rivalling her own. He's a high school drop out who was thrown into
juvie for a hate crime, after beating a gay guy up at school. Holder
envokes strange feelings of lust and passion that she's never felt
before, and even though she's confused by his strange, violent
outbursts and foreign behaviour, she can't stay away. As it turns
out, Holder is the person who will change her life forever and
uncover secrets that she has kept hidden away all of her life.Hopeless slowly draws you in and before you know it, you're
heavily invested in Sky and Holder. It's told in a very intimate way
which I've never quite encountered with such intensity before, with
the chapter's set out like Sky's diary with all of her emotions,
thoughts and confusion laid out to bare. Interactions between her
and Holder are intense, passionate and powerful. It's clear the two
have a connection that many other literary couples cannot rival.
From picking up the book from its humble beginnings, the journey
that it takes you on is not one I would have anticipated. But
amazing nonetheless, and my heart breaks for the suffering that
these two teenagers have gone through. The author handles shocking
and disturbing subject matters very elegantly and realistically, and
kudos her for being able to do so.
This is not a book you pick up when you're feeling like a light read
or a simple romance. It's one that will tear you up, make you smile,
break your heart, and realise how lucky you are for what you have.
Hopeless is a book that stays on your mind long after you've read it
and you'll be hooked.
I can't wait to read Losing Hope, the 2nd in the series
which has just been released. Due to heavily mature content, sexual
situations and language, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone below
17.
Jeann Wong